I run a customized MLS search looking for what I would flag as “distressed” housing for investment purposes. I can search for agent comments in the MLS by using the following string of terms:
*short sale*,*bank*,*REO*,*corporate own*,*3rd party*,*approval*,*foreclosure*,*pre foreclosure*,*preforeclosure*,*pre-foreclosure*,*as is*,*as-is*
Today there are 491 properties for sale in the City of Plymouth. 52 of them came up in my “distressed” search which means that fully 10% of the homes for sale could be considered distressed. Many of these properties are indeed on the lower end of the market. The distribution of homes for sale based upon my “distressed” search are as follows:
0-$100,000Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3
$100,000 – $200,000:Â Â Â 17
$200,000 – $300,000:Â Â Â Â 16
$300,000 – $400,000:Â Â Â Â 10
$400,000 – $500,000:Â Â Â Â Â 5
$500,000 – $600,000Â Â Â Â Â Â 1
CDOM or Cumulative Days on Market for these homes is 113 days and the average asking price is $254,234. The lowest price “distressed” property is $82,500 and the highest is $549,900.
Generally speaking, the public does not have the ability to search for these kinds of properties. Only agents can do these specialized word searches as those comments are not sent to public web sites. The ability to be able to do highly customized searches like this within the MLS is only one of many reasons why you should strongly consider working with a professional real estate agent if you’re thinking of buying.
Pricing pressure will continue in the market as more and more of these “distressed” properties come up for sale. I’ll comment in a future post about the role the banks are playing in the market and the detrimental effect they are having across the metro.